Holy Crap!!!

Seeing Orochimaru call him greedy, Yusuke shook his head and said slowly, "This is a Tailed Beast we're talking about. A bit of Hashirama Cells fusion fluid and a mere two pieces of intel—the value is completely lopsided."

Although he said this, Yusuke knew that the Hashirama Cells fusion fluid and the two pieces of intel he requested were already worth a fortune. However, this was a transaction after all, and one still had to fight for the benefits they were entitled to.

Orochimaru let out a cold snort: "Speak, but I don't want to hear the word 'fifth' today."

Yusuke knew that too much of a good thing could be counterproductive, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, this is the last request."

"My younger sister, Izumi, has recently started practicing swordsmanship, but she lacks a suitable weapon. I hope to obtain a Kusanagi Sword from you."

In the world of Naruto, Kusanagi Sword was not a single blade, but a collective term for a class of swords. Yusuke knew that Orochimaru possessed more than one Kusanagi Sword, and the exact number, as well as their origins, had always been a mystery.

In the original story, Orochimaru had produced several Kusanagi Swords. For instance, the one used during the Chunin Exams to fight the Third Hokage was seized by Enma and left behind in Konoha; meanwhile, he used a different, extendable Kusanagi Sword when dealing with the Nine-Tails Naruto at Tenchi Bridge.

Later, when Orochimaru abducted Sasuke, he even gave one to him, which showed that he certainly had quite a few in stock.

Furthermore, aside from Orochimaru, the Totsuka Blade used by Itachi's Susanoo also belonged to the Kusanagi category, and it was touted as the strongest of them all, known as the "Sword of Sealing."

Hearing Yusuke's words, Orochimaru opened his mouth, and a wet sword hilt slowly emerged from within.

Seeing this, Yusuke hurriedly stopped him; he certainly didn't want to give his sister a sword covered in Orochimaru's saliva.

"Wait, can you swap it for another one?"

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru's expression darkened as he swallowed the sword back into his stomach, then spat out a scroll.

The scroll landed on the sandy ground at Yusuke's feet and unfurled. On it was a storage sealing formula, with a flamboyant "Sword" character written in the center.

"Release!"

Orochimaru performed a release seal, and an exquisite long blade slowly emerged from the sealing formula on the scroll.

The blade was hidden within its scabbard. Both the scabbard and the hilt were white, and two pink ribbons embroidered with cherry blossoms fluttered in the wind at the end of the hilt.

Yusuke picked up the long blade and drew it from the scabbard. In an instant, a blade light as brilliant as cherry blossoms bloomed under the moonlight, breathtakingly beautiful.

"A fine sword!"

Admiring the beautiful cherry blossom patterns on the blade, Yusuke exclaimed, then asked Orochimaru: "What is the name of this sword?"

Orochimaru said slowly: "Kikyo Senraku Sakura."

Sheathing the blade, Yusuke said with satisfaction: "Izumi will surely like this sword. Thank you."

"Since the transaction is concluded, Yusuke-kun, shouldn't you fulfill your promise and hand Shukaku over to me?" Orochimaru said.

As cautious as Orochimaru was, he naturally wouldn't seal Shukaku in front of Yusuke, but rather planned to take it away and deal with it slowly.

Yusuke nodded and formed a seal with his right hand. The four Fire Clone figures maintaining the Four Purple Flame Array all turned into flashes of fire and vanished, and the barrier disappeared instantly.

At the same time, a white giant python nearly a hundred meters long emerged from behind Orochimaru. The python circled the dying Shukaku a few times, tightly restraining it.

Yusuke could see that the white giant python carried a powerful sealing force; once bound by this creature, Shukaku had no chance of escaping.

"Then, Yusuke-kun, until we meet again."

Having obtained Shukaku, Orochimaru did not linger. After bidding Yusuke farewell, his body slowly sank into the sand. Shukaku, bound by the white giant python, sank into the sand along with him.

Watching Orochimaru gradually disappear into the ground, Yusuke said slowly: "Until we meet again, Orochimaru."

"Also, your current fashion sense really isn't great. You should consider changing your outfit."

At this moment, Orochimaru was wearing that style of clothing with a thick hemp rope tied around his waist and a bow tied at the back. To Yusuke, this attire was truly baffling.

Hearing Yusuke's words, Orochimaru's face, which had been slightly joyful from capturing Shukaku, instantly stiffened, and he did not recover even as he sank completely into the sand.

Storing the Kusanagi Sword "Kikyo Senraku Sakura" into his Storage Scroll, Yusuke immediately returned to the inn.

Although he hadn't obtained the Yin Release Chakra of the One-Tail Shukaku this time, it could still be considered a significant harvest, as he had gained many useful items and intel from Orochimaru.

However, Orochimaru's performance also left Yusuke with a faint, lingering worry.

The current Orochimaru was already stronger than in the original story, and with the addition of the "Yin-Yang Cursed Seal" and the power gained after sealing Shukaku, he would be even harder to deal with. If they were to face each other in the future, it would be a massive headache.

Two days after Yusuke and Orochimaru's transaction, the second stage of the Chunin Exams concluded.

Similar to previous pass rates, only about 30% of the genin teams passed the second stage. Among the eliminated teams, some genin had even died directly in the Desert of Demons; one had to admit that the world of ninjas was truly cruel.

At this point, only nine teams remained. Both of Konoha's participating teams had successfully passed the second stage.

The proctor announced that the genin would have one day to rest before the third stage of the Chunin Exams. The third stage was the final stage, focusing on testing the individual combat capabilities of the genin.

The proctor would use electronic equipment to randomly select genin on the spot to face off in pairs. The winner of each round would advance to the next, while the loser would be directly eliminated.

The Chunin Exams would officially end once the final winner was decided.

The Sunagakure examination team would then provide promotion recommendations for all participating genin based on their performance across the three stages, officially submitting these opinions to the respective villages of the genin.

The reason they only provided recommendations was that whether or not a genin from a specific village was promoted to chunin was not decided by the organizers of the exam, but ultimately by each individual village.

After all, the joint Chunin Exams held more political significance than practical, and were not solely intended for selecting chunin.

In the inn where the Konoha delegation was staying, Anko was struggling to endure the pain of the Heaven Curse Seal on her shoulder erupting.

Watching Anko covered in cold sweat, everyone was deeply worried about her condition and also full of admiration for her perseverance.

Not long after the second stage began, the Heaven Curse Seal on Anko's body had erupted. Although the others could not experience what Anko was feeling, seeing her state told them that the pain was surely unbearable for an ordinary person.

During this time, Itachi and Kurama Naki had both suggested multiple times that she give up the exam and find a way to resolve the issue with her curse seal first, but Anko had refused every time.

Under these circumstances, Anko had actually managed to endure for three whole days; even Itachi felt a touch of admiration for this carefree senior.

"So this is the curse seal left behind by Orochimaru. I am truly ashamed to say that I really have no way to resolve it." Looking at the glowing red curse seal on Anko's shoulder, Hayama frowned.

Although she felt extremely unwilling, Anko still forced a smile and said, "It's fine. Even if I withdraw at this point, it won't affect Itachi and Kurama Naki participating in the third round of the exams."

Yusuke gently patted her head and smiled, "Don't worry, I still want to see you show off your skills in the third round."

"After all, this was my oversight. If I had noticed your curse seal from the beginning, I wouldn't have let you suffer through these three days of torment."

Hearing Yusuke's words, the gazes of all the genin gathered on him. There was surprise, anticipation, and even more so, admiration.

From Yusuke's words, everyone could hear that he had a way to deal with this curse seal.

In the eyes of the genin, Yusuke, a senior who was not much older than them, already possessed astonishing strength. They hadn't expected him to also be proficient in sealing jutsu, capable of solving a curse seal that even a veteran elite jonin like Hayama was helpless against.

"Yusuke, are you really sure about this? This is a curse seal placed by Orochimaru; I'm afraid it's not that simple." Hayama asked Yusuke.

He highly acknowledged Yusuke's strength, but if someone claimed they could handle a curse seal placed by one of the Sannin, Orochimaru, he remained skeptical.

Yusuke nodded, "Temporarily suppressing it is no problem, but I still need to think of a way to resolve it completely."

In truth, Yusuke already had a method to eliminate the Heaven Curse Seal on Anko, but doing so would expose too much of his own abilities, so he had to wait for the right opportunity to help Anko resolve the issue entirely.

Having said that, Yusuke stopped wasting time and prepared to begin the sealing process immediately. Anko was already in great pain, and every second of delay was torture for her.

After setting up the sealing formation, Yusuke began to weave hand signs.

"Tiger-Rabbit-Snake-Horse-Ram-Bird-Tiger-Rabbit-Snake-Horse-Ram-Bird-Tiger-Rabbit-Snake-Horse-Ram-Dog-Rat"

The hand signs Yusuke performed were extremely complex; they were the exact sealing jutsu Kakashi used in the original story to help Sasuke seal the Heaven Curse Seal.

"Evil Sealing Method!"

As the hand signs were completed, several curse marks emitting powerful chakra appeared on the tips of Yusuke's right fingers. As Yusuke pressed his fingers, now marked with the symbols, onto the location of the Heaven Curse Seal on Anko's shoulder, a circle of sealing formulas slowly emerged around the curse seal.

As the sealing formula appeared, the dark red light on the Heaven Curse Seal gradually faded until it vanished completely, and the Heaven Curse Seal returned to black.

Because Yusuke's proficiency in sealing jutsu far exceeded Kakashi's, the process of performing the Evil Sealing Method was much simpler than it had been for Kakashi, yet the effect was even better.

"It worked!"

Kurama Naki, standing to the side, saw that the curse seal had clearly calmed down and hugged Anko happily.

Through their time together, she had become very good friends with Anko, and seeing that Anko's curse seal problem was resolved, she felt relieved.

Besides Kurama Naki, the others also showed expressions of joy upon seeing this.

"Thank you!" Anko looked at Yusuke, feeling both moved and a little embarrassed.

Yusuke waved his hand and smiled, "You are my subordinate now, so you'd better perform well in tomorrow's exam!"

"Yeah!" Anko nodded earnestly, determined to let Yusuke see her true strength.

The next day, at the venue for the third round of the Chunin Exams.

The spectator stands were packed with people. Not only had most of the high-ranking officials from Sunagakure, including the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, arrived, but many officials from the Land of Wind had also come to observe.

As representatives of Konoha, Yusuke and Hayama sat in the guest seats not far from the Fourth Kazekage, watching the match from a fairly good vantage point.

After the proctor announced a series of rules, the electronic screen above the plaza began to automatically select the genin for the first match. Everyone's eyes were focused on the avatars flashing across the screen, guessing who the randomly selected opponents would be.

"The first match: Konoha's Mitarashi Anko versus Konoha's Uchiha Itachi." Looking at the information of the two genin displayed on the screen, the proctor announced.

Anko, who had been full of energy and ready to show off her skills after solving the curse seal problem, was stunned for a moment, and then she couldn't help but let out a string of profanities.

"What the hell!!!"

As always, thank you all for your support!!!

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ps:

1. The name of the Kusanagi Sword 'Kikyo Senraku Sakura' is inspired by the famous Japanese sword 'Kikyo Sentotsuki'.

2. In Japan, there is basically no distinction between swords and blades; for example, many samurai claim to practice swordsmanship, but most of what they practice involves single-edged blades.